


alcohol you later.

by allthelostsouls



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, light steve/natasha background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 17:10:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20085787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthelostsouls/pseuds/allthelostsouls
Summary: all kinds of alcohol and shameless flirting.





	alcohol you later.

**Author's Note:**

> hiiiii 💕 this is for [@waiting4inspiration](https://waiting4inspiration.tumblr.com/)’s 2k writing challenge. congrats, love! 🎈✨ my prompt is “You think you’re so cute with your…youreyes and hair and face and…okay, yeah you’re kinda cute” and it immediately made me think about not having a filter while being drunk. so I started playing around with that, and one thought led to the other and 6,000 words later, here we are. also, [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Pt7M0weUI&feature=youtu.be) is the song. hope you like! 💞 and of course, all feedback always appreciated!! Xx 💋

i. gin. 

The party is in full swing when she steps behind the bar to get herself another Hendricks and soda. She takes a long gulp of her drink, quickly makes a cosmo and grabs another beer. She dances her way to Natasha and hands her the martini glass, earning a smile from her. 

“Thanks, babe.”

She winks back as a reply and as Natasha tries to keep up with Thor’s nonsense, she comes closer to Steve and hands him the bottle of beer, taking a sit next to him on the couch. 

“When are you gonna tell her?” she mumbles in his ear, the alcohol making her words slur a little. Steve smiles at her, and they stay in each other’s spaces until she breaks into giggles and ends up resting her heard in his shoulder. He closes his arms around her and pulls her closer so she’s comfortable. “You need to tell her how you feel, Steve.”

He sighs, his hand patting her shoulder lovingly twice, “I know, darling. Soon.”

“I’m still your best girl, though, right?”

“Always,” he chuckles softly. 

“Can I be Bucky’s, too?”

“He adores you as much as I do,” he promises. “He just has a harder time showing it.”

“I just—I wish he’d love me more,” she mumbles, chewing on her lower lip to hold back the tears. She feels silly, then. Why would she talk about this now? Why would she even cry about this? And with Steve of all people. 

“Oh,” she hears him say. “_Oh_,” a pause, and then, “You should tell him.” 

She moves her heads back a little to look up at him and for a moment she wonders if she’s in love with him instead. She decides it’s just the alcohol when he smiles down at her, comforting her, and there’s nothing but a warmth in her chest. Her pulse quickens and her throat goes dry when she sees Bucky walking towards them. 

_Shit_. 

She touches Steve hand to let him know she’s getting up, trying to make a quick but discreet exit. Her plan backfires when Steve tries to get up as she tries to walk over his legs and their feet get caught on each other. She’s heading straight for the ground, the alcohol clouding her mind and messing up her reflects, and all she seems able to do is stretch her arms out to try and break her fall the best way she can. 

Two different sets of arms hold her before she’s able to get anywhere near the ground. She straightens herself up, thanking them, and Steve is the first to let go of her, stepping aside and using Natasha as an excuse to leave. She stands there, looking at Bucky, waiting for him to say something. He doesn’t. 

“I’d like to kiss you,” she blurts out. Realization downs on her face before she’s even done saying it and she feels like throwing up. “Fuck.”

_Fuck_, she thinks again walking past Bucky and out of the party as fast as she can. _Fuck, fuck, fuck_.

“Slow down, darling,” she finally hears Bucky shout and he’s right behind her. They’re out in the hallway now, the cold air makes her shiver and with the music muffled in the background, she’s able to hear her heart pounding in her ears. “Are you okay?”

He smirks and the alcohol makes her face feel hot with rage. 

“Don’t laugh at me.”

His smile falls immediately, his hands shoot up as a sign of surrender. “I’m not. I swear.”

She huffs, stepping closer towards him and Bucky is a little sacred. The look on her eyes now is the same look she gets when Sam pissed her off during training and she’s ready to quick his ass or when out on a mission. It’s a look of anger, and it usually means trouble, “You—you think you’re _so_ cute with your... your eyes and hair and face and..,” she huffs again, her shoulders falling and her expression changing in a second. Bucky has never been more confused. He knows he’s safe when her eyes soften, even though still clouded with alcohol and she sighs, “Okay, yeah, you’re kinda cute.”

Bucky gives himself a second to repress a smile and then he tries again, “Are you alright?”

“My head’s spinning and my chest feels heavy. Like my heart is gonna run out of it,” she rushes. “But I don’t know if I’ve had too much gin or if it’s because I just told you that I wish I could kiss you all the time like it was nothing.”

Bucky is quiet after that, his face never changing. She curses out loud again because she just buried herself deeper, confessing something she hadn’t before. She smiles apologetically at him and turns to leave. 

“Wait,” he calls out, catching up to her before she’s too far away. “Wait a second.”

“I’m sorry I said that. Just forget about it, Buck. We’ll pretend like it never happened.” 

“I’d like to kiss you, too,” he mumbles, finding her eyes so she’d know he really means it. “But I can’t, darling. I’m broken. My head is not right and it wouldn’t be fair to you. Maybe—maybe if we had better luck, I would’ve met you before the war, never would’ve gotten on that boat. We could’ve had a life together. But I—I’m sorry.”

She shakes her head quickly, interlacing her fingers to stop herself from reaching out to him. She takes a few breaths, waits for the world to come to full focus again, and after a last deep sigh, she smiles brightly at him. 

“Like it never happened,” she assures Bucky one more time. “Let’s go dance, I love this song.” 

And then she’s rushing back inside. He trails a few steps behind her and when he finally finds her in the crowd, she’s got her arms around Natasha. Her smile grows as the new song begins and she blows a kiss towards Peter, who seems to have added the song to the queue for her. Her eyes find Bucky’s for a few seconds when the chorus kicks in, and she sings loudly as if she was hoping he’d hear her. 

_I wish I knew you when I was young._

His entire body aches, wishing to be close to hers, and Bucky knows it’s time to call it a night. 

  


~ ✭ ~

  


Later, much later, he’s pacing around his room.

He’s about to give in and go to wherever it is he needs to go to find the spider kid and ask him about the song she asked for. He stands in the middle of his room, staring at the door, debating on what the hell to do. Not soon enough, the AI breaks his train of thought. 

“Sergeant Barnes, you have a new audio file.”

He frowns, confused, “Play.”

He thinks he might cry because after a few notes, he recognizes the song. And relieve washes over him when he realizes what _that_ means—that she’s not mad, that it’s not weird between them, that they’re okay. He lays down on his bed, closes his eyes and listens to the song closely this time. 

“FRIDAY,” he calls out softly once the song is over, still smiling. 

“Yes, Sir?”

“Play it again, please.”

  


~ ✭ ~

  


The next day, when Sam asked him why he left so early, Bucky tells him everything. 

He’s gotten a lot closer to Sam and really, he just needed to tell someone. He’d probably tell Steve too, eventually. But Sam is there all jokes and smiles, so maybe he’ll help him fix some of the mess in his head. 

Sam listens quietly and finally, once he’s heard everything, he slaps Bucky _hard_ with his words. A simple, “And then you just left!?”

“I just left.” 

“Why did you do that!?”

Bucky sighs, burying his face in his hands, “Why _did_ I do that?”

Sam mumbles something under his breath that’s dangerously close to _fucking idiot _and Bucky can only agree.

  


  


ii. tequila. 

She’s the first one to see Natasha. 

Nat’s about to leave for a mission and decided to meet up with Steve in the living area about twenty minutes early to secretly have a shot for the nerves. (Or at least, Nat was. And maybe she told Steve to meet her there ten minutes before they’re supposed to leave to make sure they have everything they need.)

“Goddamn,” she exclaims, taking a good look at Natasha’s outfit. She gets dangerously close to her and blows a kiss on her direction, making her laugh. “Tequila okay?”

Nat nods once and follows her to the small bar area where they cling glasses together and take the shot. 

“Did Steve see you yet?” she whispers so only Nat can hear her as she pours another shot on her glass. 

Nat frowns, shaking her head, and this time she doesn’t wait for her to kick the liquid back. She’s got her phone out and is trying to take a video of Nat when Steve walks in, wearing a black suit. She moves her phone to Steve then, whistling.

“Okay,” she pouts, putting her phone away. “How is it possible for the two of you to look this damn good?”

Steve’s hands fly to the back of his head and he’s trying his best to hide his embarrassment (and to not stare at Natasha too much). The silence stretches on and it’s almost awkward. 

So, she does she only thing she can think of. 

“Steve. How about a shot?”

She offers the empty glass at him and he thinks about it for a second, his eyes traveling from the glass to the bottle to the drinks in their hands and after a sigh, he gives in. They take the shot together as Sam and Bucky stumble in arguing about nonsense. 

“Oh, wow,” Sam’s the first one to speak. “Did we miss an invitation to something?”

Both of them crowd Steve as she motions Nat to come closer to her. She wraps her arm around her waist and her free hand closes around the back of her neck to pull her closer. And they’re used to all the touching, the proximity, they’re both more than comfortable with each other and it doesn’t mean anything. There’s only a few moments, like right now, where they push it a little bit only to watch Steve blush. 

“You already got him all flustered,” she whispers into her ear. “Maybe today you can have some fun playing a couple.”

She doesn’t miss the way Nat smiles nervously back at her and squeezes her wrist hard. She kisses her cheek to encourage her some more and Nat nods, finally giving in. Once the moment is passed, they notice there’s three different set of interested eyes on them. She throw her hands up in the air, and takes a step away from Natasha, breaking all contact. 

Natasha scoffs, and after rolling her eyes, she finds Steve’s. She smiles tightly at him, “You ready to do this?”

Steve nods, fixing his tie. Sam convinces them to have one last shot all of them together and in no time, they’re all clinging their glasses wishing them good luck. They won’t need it, but it’s been sort of becoming a tradition to send each other off to missions after a few words of encouragement or a few shots of bravery. 

The tequila burns her throat and then, “Seriously, Nat, have you ever made out with a girl?” 

The widow smiles back at her in the way she only knows how to and steps into her space again. “Why? Do you want to?” 

“Alright,” Steve interrupts before she can reply and closes his arm around Natasha’s waist, guiding her out the door. Natasha laughs as he grunts, trying to explain himself, “We’re already late.”

She puts the bottle back in place and collects the glasses to wash them, a smile still playing at the corners of her lips. 

“So,” Sam is the first one to speak, “What’s going on with you and the Widow?”

“Nothing other than our shared love to watch Steve squirm and get embarrassed.”

Sam looks back at her confused, and she rolls her eyes while drying the clean shot glasses with a towel. 

“You do know Steve and Natasha like each other, right?”

“Say what?”

“Oh, Sammy,” she coos, lovingly. “I thought falcons where supposed to have an eyesight four times better than the average human.”

Buck laughs loudly at that, patting his oblivious friend’s back. Sam stares back at him surprised by the fact that even _Bucky_ noticed before he did. 

“In that case, feel free to speak about your feelings towards me. I might even take you to dinner sometime, make all your dreams come true.”

“Calm down, Icarus,” she smiles, and her eyes try to find Bucky’s as she says, “Thank you for the offer but it looks like I got a thing for broken men.”

Bucky freezes and it’s Sam’s turn to crack up, as he watches the blood leave Bucky’s face. He remembers calling himself the same a few days back while a little tipsy and his heartbeat increases. He tries his best to hide the way his hands shake a little, and he wishes he’d know if she means it or if she’s just playing, trying to make Sam have a laugh. 

“Broken men don’t seem to ever love me back, so I guess there’s that.”

  


  


iii. whiskey. 

They can’t stay away from each other. 

It’s inevitable when they live and work in the same buildings, they know that. But it’s more than that. It’s only feeling at ease when the other person is in the room, it’s making extra tea because they other person will like some, it’s waiting to start the movie so they won’t miss anything. It’s Bucky sitting in a bar stool, watching her play around with bottles and glasses. She looks beautiful, _happy_. And Bucky can’t get enough of it. 

She smiles at him from behind the bar. He knows the smile it’s for him even though she hasn’t looked his way for several minutes know. 

“I’ve known you for a while now but I don’t think I’ve asked you how do you know so much about drinks?”

“I used to be a bartender,” she shrugs, picking up a new glass and moving her hands around the sugar and bitters as she talks, “And I was in love with it. It wasn’t just being at the bar, I loved the history behind the drinks and how they produce the liquor. I have hundred of books about it, I’ve been to countless distilleries—it’s just my thing, I guess. It’s probably how I got so good at reading people. I always knew if they were having a bad day or if they were celebrating. Even what drinks they might like.”

“Yeah? What would you make for me?”

“Already did,” she grins, placing the glass in front of him after she squeezes an orange peel, places it at the edge of the glass and drops a cocktail cherry as decoration.

Bucky stares at the drink in disbelieve and there’s humor in his voice when he says, “An Old Fashioned.”

“Totally fitting,” she winks at him, grinning hard She waves back at Natasha who’s standing at the other side of the room and grabs her own drink before she starts walking towards her. “I guess my shift is over.”

  


  


iv. vodka.

“Come in.”

She steps inside his room and it’s clear that he’s not expecting her. He’s probably waiting for Steve or Sam, but he got her instead. His hand freezes midair and his body tenses up. He finally finishes his drink in one big gulp and invites her to step closer as he gets a glass for her. He’s drinking his vodka neat. She winces a little as the liquor goes down, but he doesn’t. 

“Bucky,” she starts, stepping into his space, trying to catch his eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Bucky shakes his head quickly, swallowing hard. Even so, he says, “We got there too late. We couldn’t save them all.”

There’s no words she can say to help, she knows this. All she can do is wrap her arms around him, and play with his hair until his hands aren’t shaking. 

“If you promise you won’t laugh at me, I can try to do something to help,” she ventures. “I used to do it with my mom when I was little all the time, I still do it sometimes. It won’t hurt to try.”

Bucky nods once in her direction and she smiles, pleased. She leaves both glasses on the counter but grabs the bottle of vodka on one hand and Bucky’s wrist on the other, and she darts towards the bathroom. They both get inside the tub, and she closes the shower curtain slowly, suddenly feeling self conscious of the idea. Bucky takes a swing at the vodka and smiles warmly at her, watching her take one too. His legs are stretched out on either side of her body, his back resting against the wall. She’s got her legs up to her chest, her arms around them, holding them in place. 

“Close your eyes,” she asks, and her voice echoes in the room. Next time she speaks, it’s barely a whisper, “imagine you’re inside of a whale.”

Bucky snorts quietly and she claps her hand on his eyes when he tries to open them. He mouths a _sorry_, and bites his lips hard. 

“Just do it, please,” she pleads, her free hand finding Bucky’s wrist. “Please?”

He nods once, and she moves her hand away from his face to hold his other arm, her own hands shaking a little. His eyes stay closed all the time, his breathing slowing down. 

“Think about the hollow silence inside of it, kind of like this one,” she continues, her voice barely above a whisper. “The sound of the water as it moves.”

She watches him for a moment. His eyes closed and his lips parted. His fingers closing around hers, the way his chest moves as he breathes. She’s mastered her self control around Bucky. But in moments like these, when it’s just the two of them and it’s quiet, and Bucky is so trusting and right _there_, she has a harder time staying still—not reaching out and running her fingers through his hair or hiding her face in the curve of his neck and breathing in. 

She’s not sure how long it’s passed, but Bucky’s still there with his eyes closed and his hands around hers, holding on for his life. For sanity or maybe forgiveness. For some piece of mind. 

“And she’s traveling under the sea for miles and miles,” she continues then, “and it’s taking you anywhere you’d want to go. Doesn’t matter where in the world it is. Or how impossible it might seem. She’s magic. She’ll go wherever you need her to. Wherever you’re happy.”

Bucky lets his head fall back and opens his eyes lazy, his hands closing around her wrist tighter, as if he was afraid she’ll let go. He looks at their hands together and she waits for him, maybe he’ll come back soon.

And he does. 

“It’d bring me right here,” he confesses, playing with her fingers. “To this empty tub or wherever else I’m able to hold your hands.” 

He watches her hold back a smile, and his chest feels warm at how proud of herself she looks. He kisses both of her hands, and holds them against his chest so she can feel his heartbeat, steady and low, “I’m much more calm now. Thank you, darling.”

“Good. We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. But I saw Steve earlier, he was pretty shaken up. I guess it must have been really bad.”

Bucky nods once, but the fire and rage that has taken over his chest is because of something else. He tries to control his expressions the best way he can, but she still catches his mouth flinch. 

“What was that face for?” 

“It’s not important.” 

“It is if it’s bothering you.” 

He looks at her from in between his lashes, his voice worn out like it’s about to break, “I’ve never known jealousy until I met you.” 

The words echo in the room, bouncing off the walls until they slowly disappear. She moves the bottle of vodka behind her so it won’t spill and tries to make herself as small as possible, moving closer. 

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

“I know,” he assures her. “It’s just never happened before. The feeling, I mean. Not sure what to do with it.”

And it’s the truth, she knows this. He trusts her and Steve, but just so there’s no doubt in his mind at all, she adds, “I’m here with _you_, aren’t I?”

“Inside of a magical whale,” he teases. 

“Damn right.”

  


  


v. rum.

At the end of the night, after countless mojitos, there’s only three people standing. 

It ends up being just two when Sam decides it’s time for bed and heads to his own room. She smiles brightly at Bucky as she changes the record one last time and lets herself fall on his bed. Bucky smiles when he sees her practically falling asleep where she’s sitting. 

“C’mon, darling,” he whispers, kneeling in front of her. He grabs her hands and pulls up gently to get her on her feet. “Let’s get you more comfortable.”

They move to the bathroom and Bucky asks her to sit at the edge of the bathtub. He places her right hand around his neck and wraps his left hand around the small of her back to steady her. With his free hand he takes off her shoes, and he chuckles when she smiles lovingly at them. 

“They’re just _so_ pretty.”

“They are,” he smiles back at her. “You’re pretty good with them, too.”

“I love heels,” she confesses, her eyes follow Bucky as he looks around his bathroom cabinets. “And dressing up, too. I just don’t get to do it very often.”

When he comes back, he kneels in front of her and asks her to close her eyes. She does without hesitation and smiles softly as he works very gently on taking her make up off.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you wear red lipstick, too,” he points out, grabbing a clean cotton ball and wetting it, before rubbing it against her lips. “I like it.”

She opens her eyes at that and it takes her a second to focus her vision. She’s suddenly so painfully aware of how close he is, and the devotion in his face makes her want to cry. 

“Thank you,” she whispers low, her voice a little funny since she’s trying hard to not move her mouth too much. “I like that I don’t have to be one thing or the other. I can be a pretty girl but I can also kick your ass.”

“You sure are and you sure can,” Bucky grins, and it’s been a while since he’s been this relaxed. She wonders if anyone else gets to see this side of him or if it’s God’s gift just for her.

She watches Bucky toss away the dirty cotton balls and closes her eyes for a few seconds when he looks around her face, making sure he’s got all the make up off. When she opens her eyes, he’s still there, waiting for her. 

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Sergeant.”

“Bed or bath?”

“Bath,” she replies right away and holds on to his arm as she pushes her body backwards to turn the water on. “I should sweat out the rest of the alcohol or Sam will kick my ass in training tomorrow. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Bucky nods, pulling out the bubbles from underneath the sink. She throws the liquid around the tub and leaves it next to it, just in case they’ll need more. When Bucky steps outside to grab her a towel from the closet, she gets rid of her dress and underwear. She’s pulling her hair up when he walks back inside. He freezes at the view and she can almost see smoke coming out of his ears from how fast his brain was working. She steps closer and sneaks around to his side to close and lock the door behind him. They lock eyes as she takes the towel from his hands and hangs it on the rack. She checks the water temperature before reaching for him. He’s there in a blink to help steady her as she lowers herself in the water. She hums, closing her eyes, and only has to wait a few seconds before Bucky is settling in behind her—his thighs around her hips, one arm around her waist, her back against his chest, and her head finds his shoulder. She sighs comfortably once he starts drawing random patterns in her arms with his fingertips. 

“Tell me a story?” she asks a little while later. “Something happy.”

Bucky only thinks about it for a second or two before he starts talking. It takes her minute, but she can’t help but smile when she realizes he’s telling her the story of when they first met. 

  


  


vi. beer.

She _hates_ camping. 

She curses in her mind at whoever thought this was an appropriate birthday celebration. Steve doesn’t even like camping, he’s just good at it for military reasons, so why would they bring him out here to supposedly celebrate his birthday. The only reason she’s out in the middle of nowhere besides being her best friend’s day, is the fact that they might be able to see some fireworks. Perks of being born on the Fourth of July.

They get the bonfire started fairly quickly. They’re cracking jokes, having beers and fighting over the music. They roast marshmallows, swim a little, burn some meat and tell a few lies. And when the sun goes down, the show starts. The first firework catches them all by surprise, making them stop everything they’re doing and run at the edge of the lake to watch the lights in the sky. 

The first thing she looks for, though, is Bucky. He’s suddenly nowhere to be found and her chest feels cold and heavy. He finally comes back with Sam on his side, laughing about something. They both throw the firewood they had collected to the floor and come closer to the water. Sam jumps on Steve to wish him a happy birthday, and Bucky runs towards her. 

“You alright?”

She nods quickly, and she looks mortified after she can’t hold back a hiccup. 

Bucky chuckles, “What was that?”

“I had half a beer,” she laughs, handing him the bottle she had been drinking from. She watches him take a long gulp from it. “I can’t drink beer, I’m gonna burp and have hiccups the rest of the night and I’m not even buzzed.”

Bucky laughs loudly at her sad face and drops his arm on top of her shoulders, walking them towards the rest of the group, “C’mon, you love fireworks.”

The sky fills with colors, and they’re all quiet as they watch. Bucky gets this feeling is his chest that makes him look down at her and when her eyes move up to his, it’s like he’s in his early twenties again and there hasn’t been another big war and he doesn’t know what a horrible place the world really is. 

“Where have you been all this time?”

And she just knows what he means by that. She always knows, “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner.”

He shrugs, and then he leans in to kiss her full on the lips because he can. Because why the hell not? Because that’s what people in love do when there’s fireworks. Because that’s the only thing he wants to do for the rest of his life. 

He breathes against her mouth, “You are worth the wait.”

And okay, she _loves_ camping. 

  


  


vii. wine. 

“I’m ready,” she calls from the doorway, stepping into his room. 

Bucky rushes out of the bathroom and they both hold in their curses as they look at the each other. 

“Wow,” she’s the first one to speak. “Don’t you clean up nice?”

It takes Bucky a second to talk, and he sounds like a little kid as he complains. “Baby,” he almost pouts. “I was supposed to go knock on your door and give you flowers and tell you how _stunning_ you look before we walked downstairs.”

She laughs, and she really doesn’t have an explanation as to why is she here other than, “I couldn’t wait. You’re not telling me where we’re going and I’m too excited.”

“Fine,” he sighs, grabbing his jacket from the bed and putting it on. He steals a flower from the bouquet he was supposed to give her and offers it to her, “Are you ready?”

“I am,” she smiles at the flower. A thought hits her and Bucky waits for it before he moves away. “You like my shoes?”

Bucky actually takes the time to look down at her heels, taking in the color and design, and yes. “Lovely.”

She squeals happily, and off they go. 

The restaurant is close by. It’s empty and dark inside, and she’s confused for a second. Bucky gives her a reassuring smile as he unlocks the front door and opens it for her. 

“Since when do you have keys to the finest Italian restaurant in town?”

“A friend owed me a favor,” he replies, locking the door behind them. 

“The Winter Soldier got friends?”

“Believe it or not,” he chuckles back. “C’mon.”

Bucky offers his hand and she accepts it gladly. He guides her towards the back of the restaurant and down the stairs to a private room. It looks like a cave, the walls made of stone, and it’s more than obvious that even though the building is new, that cave is been there for decades. They’re guided by candlelight for a very short and narrows path until they find the far storage. There’s endless supply of wine, boxes and boxes all around, and a wall with all the bottles in display. In the middle of the room there’s a table with a handful of empty glasses, a cheese board, olives, and more candles. They room is warm and the pale light shines on Bucky’s hand, on his eyes and his teeth as he smiles. 

Before she can ask what’s happening, a man comes in through the same way they did and hugs Bucky tight. 

“Good to see you, Buck.”

“Thank you for this, Josh,” Bucky replies, patting the man’s back before they pull away. “How’s the family?”

“Michael won’t stop asking when you’re coming around next. You’ll always be his hero,” he shrugs, and then his eyes settle behind Bucky. “Is this her?”

“That she is.”

“I’ve heard so much about you,” Josh says, introducing himself. They shake hands and then, “I’ve heard you love wine.”

“I do,” she nods quickly. 

“Great,” Josh rub his hands together in excitement and dances around the storage picking up bottles. “We got a lot to talk about then.”

She squeals at Bucky before kissing him hard, thanking him. Not every day she gets her own private wine tasting at one of the best restaurants in town. 

  


  


viii. champagne.

Clint decided to have a second wedding. 

After three kids, why not a wedding where all of his family will be included? It’s long overdue, and the team needs small moments like these to celebrate and just be together. Enjoy each other’s company, maybe feel a little normal. 

They’re out in the yard at Clint’s place after the ceremony. There’s twinkling lights everywhere, music, drinks and food. She’s watching Bucky teaching Clint’s son how to properly hold a knife (with Clint’s blessing, she made sure) as she finishes her glass of champagne. Steve comes back to her table with a new one and they clink glasses together before taking a sip. 

“Let’s go,” Steve offers his hand towards her inviting her to dance. “Gotta dance with my best girl at least once today.”

She takes another gulp from the champagne and accepts his hand without a second thought. They walk towards the dance floor and Steve closes his arms around her, finding the right pace easily. 

“Looks like someone wants to tell me something,” she sings with an accusing smile. “You talked to her, didn’t you?”

Steve smiles, embarrassed. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”

“Nope,” she grins. “I’ve seen you stealing looks at each other all night. Maybe that’s who you should be dancing with.”

“I had to make sure I wouldn’t step on her feet,” Steve confesses, his cheeks flushed red. 

“You’ll be great,” she assures him. “I’m glad I had the honor to at least be practice.”

Steve laughs loudly and she follows the sound with her own. Before he’s able to give her a witty reply, Bucky’s standing next to them, with his hands in his pockets, not sure how to interrupt. 

“Mind if I cut in?”

“Not at all, pal,” Steve replies, stepping away. “All yours.”

He pats his best friend’s back and walks straight towards Natasha, asking her to dance. 

“Good boy,” she muses before settling her eyes back to Bucky’s. “Hey, darling.”

“My love,” he replies, gathering her in his arms. “Don’t you look beautiful today?”

“You’re barely noticing?”

“I was way too distracted by your heels,” he jokes, his best attempt to save himself. “Lovely.”

She smiles pleased, and Bucky knows he’s safe. She nods towards Clint’s son who’s showing his sister what he just learned, “You’re really good with them.”

He sees the way her eyes soften and her lips curls, and so he has to ask, “Would you like to have kids?”

She hums, pretending to think about it for a second, “I think I’d like to have a daughter.”

“Yeah? What would you name her?”

“Katerina,” she replies, her voice like melting honey. 

“I like it,” he nods. “It’s a beautiful name, darling. What if it’s a boy?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always thought about Nathan or James. Maybe Blake.”

“James?”

Her eyes find his immediately and realization hits her hard in the face. She chuckles once, and Bucky sees her fire return as she says, “James, like his father, maybe? A girl can dream,” she shrugs. After a second, she shakes her head, her smile never wavering, “What about you?”

“I don’t know if I can have kids, never really thought about it before,” he confesses. “But I wouldn’t mind a little girl just like you, though. Maybe I’ll name her Katerina.”

She chuckles low again and her heart settles back in place, calm suddenly washing over her body. The wind blows gently caressing her face and she inhales deeply, her fingers pressing down on Bucky’s skin hard enough to bruise. He holds her closer to his chest, and he’s sure there have never been two people more in love. 

“We really are gonna be stuck with each other for a long time, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me - [xbuchananbarnes.tumblr.com](http://xbuchananbarnes.tumblr.com)


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